TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – April 9, 2009 – Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink said Wednesday that she planned to convene a meeting of lawyers working pro bono on foreclosure cases and the 12 largest Florida lending firms. The meeting will be held in Tampa April 20.
Announcing the foreclosure summit Wednesday with attorneys from the Florida Attorneys Saving Homes program, Sink said the meeting would help remind Floridians about free legal assistance and allow lawyers to pick the brains of lenders about loan repayment problems that don’t require eviction. According to Sink, the pro bono lawyers have already received 25,000 calls about foreclosures, but their efforts have been hamstrung by varied processes from lenders, a problem the CFO said could be easier to solve by bringing the largest firms together.
“The purpose of our meeting is to find out how we can be more efficient and effective so our volunteer attorneys don’t get frustrated and say ‘I don’t have time for this,’” Sink said.
Representatives from Bank of America, Citibank, Countrywide, IndyMac Bank, JP Morgan, Litton Loan Servicing, Wells Fargo, Saxon Mortgage Services, Suntrust, Wachovia and Washington Mutual will be invited to attend the summit, Sink’s office said.
In 2007, CFO Sink asked the Florida Bar to provide assistance to struggling homeowners in the state, leading to the creation of the Florida Attorneys Saving Homes program. The program pairs pro bono attorneys with Florida homeowners who are behind on their mortgage payments. Over 1,000 lawyers across the state have volunteered their time in response to CFO Sink’s call to launch this program.
In addition to the Florida Attorneys Saving Homes Program, CFO Sink also launched the Florida Housing Help Initiative to assist homeowners facing foreclosure. The initiative partners with community organizations and elected officials to hold foreclosure workshops around the state.
For more information on CFO Sink’s Florida Housing Help Initiative or the Florida Attorneys Saving Homes program, visit www.MyFloridaCFO.com.
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